Photo: Courtesy of CW
Whitney Thomson is a 20 year old from Florida and she’s…… plus-size. The first ever plus-size winner in the contest in any country. She probably weighs as much as four of last year’s Australian winner, Alice Burdeau .
This is not a criticism of either girl, mind you, just an observation. Diversity is what we’re looking for in the media and fashion worlds, people. Diversity.
So whether naming Whitney the winner is a publicity stunt to boost buzz in the show’s seventh (or eigth? or 100th?) US season or not, who cares. It’s divine to see some variation in the type of body we publicly praise.
Bikini pix and Q&A with Whitney after the jump…..
Q: I wasn’t sure if you had to gain weight for Top Model or anything like that.
A: Oh,
no. I went on the show, and I’m the one who said “I’m a plus-sized
model.” Which is so funny because when I was when I was there, all the
other girls there that were my size were like “Oh, you know, I’m a size
… 10.” And I was like “Pfft. I’m a size 10! Yeah!” I think that’s why
they took me out to L.A. I didn’t expect to make it that far. People
always told me, “You should be on that show!” And I was like, “Please,
I would never get on that show.” And look at me now! Never say never.Q: It’s weird because those of us who are non-models say that a size 10 is not at all plus-sized or even full-figured.
A: It is because it’s not. It’s below average.Q: Did you have to adjust
your mindset to the fact that in real life you’re just a beautiful
woman but on the show you’re kind of a special case?
A: I
think the fact that I didn’t adjust my mindset is what took me further.
Instead of being like “Oh no, I’m big!” I was like, “Yeah, I’m making
pancakes for breakfast!” I think that really did help because you have
to keep your hopes high and your mentality going. At the end of the
day, you don’t have anyone but yourself. All the quote-unquote friends
you have are still your competitors, which is really really difficult
for anyone. There were times that I locked myself in the bathroom and
cried. It got rough, but I think what made me go further than any other
plus-sized model, especially on this season, was the fact that I didn’t
just come in and go, “Hey, I’m not skinny, but I’m really pretty.” It
was more like “OK, almost the majority of all 9-year-old girls have
been on a diet, and why isn’t anyone changing that?” I’m not
supporting that, and I’m not supporting being emaciated and starving
yourself, and I will go further.Q: Did the girls ever give you crap about being full-figured?
A: You
saw when Stacy Ann was like “Whatever, you’re fat.” And I was like “Uh,
perhaps you meant P-H-A-T,” which is totally my personality. There were
a few times. I think the girls were a little jealous that they had to
diet and they had to do this work to be super skinny, and I was like
“Well, I don’t, and my pictures still came out better than yours.” I
think it was difficult for them because the plus-sized models usually
lose their confidence within the first week or two. I think they were
like “What? Well you’re big!”Q: It was refreshing that
you didn’t keep hammering that “I’m big, and I’m beautiful” and that on
the show you strove to be a model and not so much a role model.
A: Even
though there are disadvantages to being bigger, in the long run the
best thing that’s happened to me is that even before everyone knew that
I won, I got e-mails from girls and boys from all over the world saying
“I’ve dealt with an eating disorder and you’ve had me seek help and I
see your confidence and how you do it,” people who were really looking
up to me just for my ideas on the show, not even knowing I had won. I
think that’s really the best reward I could possibly have.
[you can read the rest of this Q&A here]
Top Comments
In the topmost picture I thought she looked like a computer character - whats with the monstrous amount of CGI?
Just because size 14 is the 'average' size of an Aussie woman, doesn't mean it is 'ideal' (in health terms) or 'healthy'. Sure there are some size 14s out there who are fit and can do a full triathlon, but there are also many size 14s who have too much body fat and are unfit and unhealthy.
Why is it OK to be concerned about an anorexic being underweight but not OK to tell an overweight or obese person that they need to lose fat and be healthy? Surely both are valid health concerns, and both can lead to deaths in extreme cases?
I think people who are obese or overweight are quite aware of the fact. They don't need anyone telling them, that's for sure (at least I know I am). But, I go to the gym three times a week and it's possible that I'm healthier than someone who's a size 10. There can be a big difference between your weight and how healthy you are - they're not necessarily the same thing.
I agree. I get angered by people saying to me "big is beautiful" and that I'm "undersized", when I'm a very fit and healthy size 8. That's just me! I can be a size 6 (doing triathlons!), and still be comfortably covered, not bony or sick-looking.
When I was injured, off work and not eating well I got "fat"- a size 11... I have narrow hips/shoulders, no boobs, all my weight goes on to my stomach and thighs (never my boobs!!), I even had a chubby face too! As soon as I'd gained weight, people were up in arms because I was "only an 11"... my body isn't capable of supporting that much weight!
Yet for another- like my sister- who has a natural hourglass figure, comfortably sits on a size 12-14 with not an inch of fat on her, running marathons and working out every day. She got down to a size 10 once and couldn't maintain it at all without making herself sick.
People need to realise the body they're in, embrace it for what it is- someone is not undersized because they're a size 8, or 10, nor are they healthy or "normal" if they're a 14. Big isn't beautiful nor is it normal... fit and healthy bodies, whatever the size or shape, are beautiful.